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ssociation 


American  Agricultural  Colleges 


and 


Experiment   Stations 


Report    of    the    Executive    Committee 


on  the 


Amendment  of  the  Constitution 


Berkeley,   California 
August  lltL,  12tL,  13tL,  1915 


•  , 


Report  of  the   Executive    Committee 


— on  the — 


Amendment  of  the  Constitution 


To  the  Association  of  American  Agricultural  Colleges  and  Experi- 
ment Stations,  in  session  at  Berkeley,  California,  August 
11-13,  1915: 

At  the  last  meeting  of  this  Association  the  following  action  was 
taken :  , 

"  Moved,  that  the  Executive  Committee  be  requested  to  poll 
the  membership  of  the  Association  on  the  question:  What 
changes  would  you  suggest  in  the  Constitution  and  methods  of 
organization  of  this  Association;  and  further,  that  the  Committee 
after  this  canvass  is  completed,  report  its  own  conclusions  upon 
the  question  and  make  such  recommendations  of  changes  in  the 
Constitution  of  the  Association,  or  such  other  steps,  as  it  may 
regard  as  necessary  or  desirable  in  order  to  carry  out  its 
conclusions." 

Pursuant  to  this  action  the  Executive  Committee  addressed 
a  letter  under  date  of  May  22,  1915,  to  the  several  colleges  and 
stations,  calling  attention  to  the  several  motions  and  discussions 
as  reported  in  the  Proceedings  and  to  the  action  taken.  Separate 
printed  copies  of  the  Constitution  were  forwarded  with  the  letter 
and  request  made  for  replies  in  order  that  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee might  have  the  data  desired  for  a  report. 

Exclusive  of  those  represented  by  members  of  the  Executive 
Committee,  sixteen  institutions  responded.  From  one  institution 
three  men  wrote  expressing  three  different  points  of  view.  Four 
presidents  responded.  Twelve  deans  or  directors  and  three 
Extension  officers  responded.  Obviously  less  than  half  the 
Institutions  replied.  There  was  no  such  general  response 
on  the  part  of  the  officers  as  would  intimate  to  the  Executive 


M17503 


Committee  any  preponderating  sentiment  one  way  or  the  other. 
At  most,  one-half  of  the  votes  could  be  counted  as  favoring  in  a 
general  way  the  amendment  proposed.  About  one-third  were 
opposed  and  some  responses  made  new  proposals  without  com- 
mitting the  authors  definitely  to  any  program.  In  general  it 
may  be  said  that  the  method  proposed  by  the  resolution  above 
cited  brought  to  the  Executive  Committee  very  little  information 
or  guidance.  After  correspondence  and  some  discussion  at  a 
meeting  held  in  Washington,  June  30th,  it  was  agreed  that  the 
Chairman  of  the  Committee  should  prepare  a  report  and  print 
it  for  distribution  at  the  meeting,  August  llth. 

This  report  is  therefore  submitted  with  a  definite  understanding 
that  the  Chairman  alone  is  to  be  held  responsible  for  its  contents 
since  it  was  impracticable  to  submit  it  for  amendment  and  approval 
to  the  several  members. 

I.     SOME  HISTORICAL  DATA. 

The  Honorable  Norman  J.  Colman,  Commissioner  of  Agri- 
culture under  date  of  May  6th,  1885,  issued  a  call  for  the  first 
convention  which  assembled  in  Washington  July  8,  1885.  At 
this  convention  there  were  present  representatives  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture,  Boards  of  Agriculture,  the  Agricultural 
Press,  persons  representing  agriculture  in  foreign  countries,  the 
Agricultural  Colleges,  the  Experiment  Stations  and  individual 
delegates  representing  agricultural  interests,  in  all  seventy-eight 
persons.  This  convention  of  delegates  made  provision  for  per- 
petuating the  existence  of  the  body  not  yet  organized  under  a 
definite  plan. 

In  the  proceedings  of  the  Second  Annual  Convention  of  the 
Association  of  American  Agricultural  Colleges  and  Experiment 
Stations  held  at  Knoxville,  Tenn.,  January  1,  2,  and  3,  1889, 
there  appears  a  brief  Constitution.  In  the  Proceedings  of  the 
third  Annual  Convention  held  in  Washington,  November  12-15, 
1889,  the  Constitution  appears  with  an  amendment  providing 
for  permanent  committees.  The  following  sentences  are  quoted 
from  the  Constitution:  "The  Association  shall  be  organized  into 
permanent  committees  upon  the  several  classes  of  special  subjects, 
the  consideration  of  which  shall  become  desirable.  Provision 
shall  be  made  in  the  programme  for  conferences  of  each  of  the 
Committees,  either  simultaneously  or  consecutively  as  the  Execu- 


live  Committee  shall  determine."  There  shall  be  permanent 
Committees  on  agriculture,  on  botany,  on  chemistry,  on  ento- 
mology, and  on  horticulture;  and  the  Executive  Committee, 
upon  request  of  any  five  institutions  represented  in  the  Association 
shall  provide  for  the  organization  of  a  new  Committee  at  any 
Convention. " 

In  the  Proceedings  of  the  Fourth  Annual  Convention,  held  at 
the  University  of  Illinois,  November  11-13,  1890,  the  Constitution 
appears  with  the  paragraph  on  permanent  Committees  amended 
with  the  title  " permanent  Committees"  changed  to  " Sections" 
with  appropriate  changes  in  the  phraseology  and  a  section  on 
" College  work"  is  added. 

In  the  Proceedings  of  the  Sixth  Annual  Convention,  held  at 
New  Orleans,  November  15-19,  1892,  the  Constitution  appears 
with  amendments  as  follows: 

1.  The  Association  shall  be  organized  into  sections  upon  (1) 
College  work;  (2)  Agriculture  and  Chemistry;  (3)  Horticulture 
and  Botany;  (4)  Entomology;  (5)  Mechanic  Arts.  The  Executive 
Committee  shall,  upon  the  request  of  any  ten  institutions  rep- 
resented in  the  Association,  provide  for  the  organization  of 
provisional  sections  at  any  convention. 

2.  Each  section  shall  conduct  its  own  proceedings  and  shall 
keep  record  of  the  same,  and  present  a  synopsis  thereof  to  the 
Association  at  the  close  of  every  Convention;  and  no  action  of  a 
section,  by  resolution  or  otherwise,  shall  be  valid  until  the  same 
shall  have  been  ratified  by  the  Association  in  general  session. 

It  would  interest  members  of  the  Convention  to  read  the 
debate  on  the  amendment  introduced  by  the  President,  J.  K. 
Patterson,  of  Kentucky,  providing  for  a  section  on  Mechanic 
Arts,  inasmuch  as  a  separate  Association  was  then  under  dis- 
cussion. See  Proceedings  of  the  Sixth  Convention,  page  74. 

In  accordance  with  the  above  amendment  to  the  Constitution, 
the  first  annual  meeting  of  the  section  on  Mechanic  Arts  was 
held  with  the  Association  at  Chicago,  in  October,  1893.  In  the 
Proceedings  of  the  Association  for  the  meeting  at  Denver,  Colo- 
rado, July  16-18,  1895,  page  18,  there  appears  the  following  report 
from  the  section  on  Mechanic  Arts : 

11  During  the  past  year  an  effort  has  been  made  to  develop, 
practically,  but  one  side  of  the  Section  on  Mechanic  Arts,  viz., 
the  correlation  of  mechanic  arts  and  agriculture. 


The  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Engineering  Education 
covers  the  broader  field  of  engineering,  and  we  believe  that 
our  range  of  work  in  this  Association  should  be  a  limited  one. 

By  well-directed  efforts  the  Section  on  Mechanic  Arts  can  be 
made  a  valuable  adjunct  to  the  agricultural  side  of  this  Association 
by  bringing  more  intimately  in  contact  the  agricultural  and 
mechanical  work  in  the  colleges. 

We  believe  that  some  steps  should  be  taken  to  send  at  least 
one  delegate  from  the  colleges  of  the  Association  to  represent 
the  mechanical  side  of  our  institutions,  but  if  such  a  move  is  to 
be  made  the  agriculturalists  must  take  the  initiative. 

Most  of  our  men  interested  in  mechanic  arts  are  indifferent 
toward  doing  work  for  the  Association,  claiming  that  the  Associa- 
tion is  essentially  agricultural  and  it  is  the  intention  of  the 
agriculturalists  to  keep  it  within  such  limits." 

In  the  report  from  the  section  on  Mechanic  Arts  presented  at 
the  Tenth  Annual  Convention,  Washington,  November  10-12, 

1896,  (see  Proceedings,  pages  26-28),  there  appeared  this  para- 
graph:    "Many  of  the  professors  in  the  mechanical  departments 
have  expressed  themselves  as  being  very  desirous  of  attending 
these  meetings  and  exchanging  ideas  with  their  fellow  workers. 
Why  are  they  not  present  the  same  as  the  professors  from  the 
other  college  departments?     Could  not  this  be  brought  about? 
Can  not  the  College  presidents  and  trustees  present  see  to  it 
that  more  of  the  mechanical  men  are  present  at  these  meetings? 

The  following  extract  is  taken  from  the  Proceedings  of  the 
Eleventh  Annual  Convention,  held  at  Minneapolis,  July  13-15, 

1897.  See  page  28  for  full  report: 

"At  the  Tenth  Annual  Convention  of  this  Association,  held 
at  Washington,  D.  C.,  November  1896,  a  special  Committee  was 
appointed  "to  revise  the  Constitution  of  the  Association  and 
report  at  the  next  Annual  Convention."  The  Committee  thus 
appointed,  having  considered  the  subject  assigned,  begs  leave 
to  submit  the  following  report: 

"The  members  of  the  Committee  have  discussed  this  impor- 
tant matter  among  themselves,  and  have  obtained  the  opinion 
of  a  number  of  gentlemen  heretofore  active  in  the  work  of  the 
Association  whom  it  has  been  convenient  to  consult.  A  con- 
siderable diversity  of  opinion  has  been  developed  as  to  the  most 


useful  form  for  the  Association  to  take  to  accomplish  its  future 
work,  and  it  seems  expedient  to  present  two  different  propositions. 

A  majority  of  the  Committee  and  of  those  whom  iUaas  been 
practicable  to  confer  with  favor  a  radical  change  in  the  Con- 
stitution, and  this  is  first  submitted  for  consideration  and  action. 

This  plan  proposes  the  abolition  of  all  sections,  so  that  if 
adopted,  the  Annual  Convention  of  the  Association  would  there- 
after be  a  meeting  of  the  Executive  Officers  of  Colleges  and 
Stations,  with  such  other  and  special  delegates  as  the  institutions 
respectively  saw  fit  to  send  to  these  conferences. 

It  is  believed  by  those  favoring  this  plan  that  it  will  effectively 
bring  the  Association  back  to  its  original  purpose,  namely,  the 
consideration  in  annual  conference  of  the  problems  of  College  and 
Station  administration,  as  affecting  (a)  internal  working,  (b) 
relations  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  (c)  relations  to 
the  state  governments  respectively,  (d)  relations  to  other  institu- 
tions, and  (e)  attitude  toward  new  legislation  proposed  from 
time  to  time. 

The  delegates  who  are  able  to  assemble  annually  as  representa- 
tives of  the  institutions  forming  the  Association  need  the  entire 
time  at  their  disposal,  to  enable  them  to  give  undivided  attention 
to  these  subjects  of  paramount  importance. 

If  the  sections  are  continued,  the  natural  tendency  will  be  to 
increase  the  number,  because,  if  it  is  good  policy  to  have  any 
departments  of  colleges  and  stations  represented  by  specialists, 
it  is  expedient  and  right  that  all  departments  should  have  equal 
opportunities.  Following  this  logical  course,  it  will  be  more 
and  more  difficult  than  it  now  is  to  select  and  limit  the  attendance 
at  these  conventions. 

There  are,  however,  other  organizations  of  chemists,  engineers, 
botanists,  etc.,  which  professors  and  investigators  desire  to  attend 
at  which  they  have  ample  opportunities  for  the  work  they  now 
seek  to  do  at  the  conventions  of  this  Association,  and  where  for 
many  reasons,  it  is  better  for  them  to  go.  At  these  other  meetings 
delegates  from  the  various  land-grant  colleges  and  experiment 
stations  come  in  contact  not  only  with  men  from  institutions 
of  like  character,  but  also  with  men  from  all  the  other  colleges  and 
universities  and  technical  schools.  This  opens  a  wider  field  and 
presents  superior  advantages.  Many  believed  that,  forced  on 
economical  grounds  to  make  choice,  the  institutions  concerned 


and  their  workers  will  decide  that  their  time  and  money  can  be 
more  profitably  used  by  attendance  at  these  larger  and  more 
general  gatherings  than  at  the  special  meetings  of  this  body." 

At  the  Twelfth  Annual  Convention,  in  Washington,  November 
15-17,  1898,  the  proposed  amendments  were  discussed  at  two 
sessions  and  the  proposals  defeated  by  a  vote  of  forty-four  to 
eight.  Members  are  referred  to  this  report,  pages  46  and  54,  for  a 
good  summary  of  the  conditions  existing  and  for  an  illuminating 
discussion  by  experienced  members  of  the  Association. 

Before  adjournment  at  San  Francisco  a  "  Committee  on  the 
revision  of  the  Constitution"  was  appointed.  This  Committee 
reported  at  the  Fourteenth  Annual  Convention,  held  at  New 
Haven,  November  13-15,  1900,  with  but  two  amendments,  one 
referring  to  the  programme  and  one  to  membership.  The  article 
on  membership  as  proposed  read  as  follows;  the  italics  being  the 
amendment:  " Every  college  established  under  the  act  of 
Congress  approved  July  2,  1862,  or  receiving  the  benefits  of  the 
act  of  Congress,  approved  August  30,  1890,  and  every  department 
of  mechanic  arts  so  established,  and  every  agricultural  experiment 
station,  etc. 

Action  on  this  amendment  was  taken  at  the  Fifteenth  Annual 
Convention,  held  in  Washington,  November  12-14,  1901.  See 
Proceedings,  page  50.  This  action  struck  out  the  proposal  to 
give  representation  to  the  department  of  mechanic  arts,  evidently 
on  the  theory  that  institutions  and  not  departments  should  have 
representation.  The  section  on  mechanic  arts  was  continued 
as  before.  On  pages  38-40  of  the  Proceedings  for  1901  will  be 
found  an  admirable  report  on  the  scope  of  the  work  for  the  section 
in  mechanic  arts  by  H.  W.  Tyler,  Chairman  of  the  Section  for 
that  year. 

At  the  Sixteenth  Annual  Convention,  Atlanta,  Georgia, 
October  7-9,  1902,  a  proposal  to  amend  the  constitution  was  made. 
See  Proceedings  of  1902,  page  44.  The  proposed  amendments 
provided  for  two  sections.  (1)  A  Section  on  College  Work  and 
Administration;  (2)  A  Section  on  Experiment  Station  Work. 
The  amendments  proposed  provided  further  that  each  section 
might  create  such  divisions  as  it  may  from  time  to  time  find 
desirable. 

At  the  Seventeenth  Annual  Convention,  in  Washington, 
November  17-19,  1903,  the  amendments  were  adopted  by  a  vote 


— i- 


of  53  to  1.  From  this  time  on  no  further  mention  appears  of 
mechanic  arts  in  the  programme  of  the  Association.  By  a  series 
of  amendments  to  the  Constitution  there  disappeared  the  sections 
on  agriculture  and  chemistry,  on  horticulture  and  botany,  on 
entomology  and  on  mechanic  arts.  It  would  appear  that  the 
Association  had  through  a  series  of  years  with  no  little  debate 
steadily  developed  into  a  Convention  of  Administrative  Officers 
in  which  the  two  great  interests  were  the  Colleges  of  Agriculture 
and  the  Experiment  Stations. 

In  stating  this  conclusion  as  of  the  date  of  1903,  it  should  be 
noted  that  repeatedly  there  was  represented  to  the  Association 
the  need  of  Engineering  Experiment  Stations  and  that  at  one 
time  the  Association  expressed  its  preference  between  two  bills 
favoring  the  one  for  Experiment  Stations. 

At  the  Twenty-second  Annual  Convention,  held  in  Washington, 
November  18-20,  1908,  (see  Proceedings,  page  44),  a  proposal 
to  amend  the  Constitution  by  having  a  section  on  the  Extension 
Work,  was  announced.  In  the  subsequent  year  at  the  Portland 
meeting  of  the  Association  in  1909,  the  section  on  Extension 
Work  was  adopted  and  is  now  a  part  of  the  Constitution. 

Subsequently  a  new  Association  was  organized  known  as  the 
Land  Grant  College  Engineering  Association.  This  has  now 
been  in  active  operation  for  a  period  of  three  years  and  is  holding 
its  fourth  Session  during  the  current  week.  The  question  is 
now  raised  whether  this  Association  should  continue  as  a  separate 
and  distinct  association  or  whether  it  should  be  recognized  as  a 
division  of  the  parent  Association  on  the  same  basis  as  the  Colleges 
of  Agriculture,  Stations  and  Extension  Division. 

It  may  be  worth  while  to  direct  the  attention  of  the  Association 
to  the  fact  that  the  Act  of  1862  recognizes  the  Colleges  of  Agri- 
culture and  Mechanic  Arts.  It  does  not  recognize  separate 
Colleges  of  Agriculture  or  separate  Colleges  of  Mechanic  Arts. 
The  division  into  Agricultural  and  Mechanic  Arts  is  an  adminis- 
trative convenience  as  constituted  in  separate  institutions.  In 
some  of  the  states  like  Iowa,  Michigan  and  others,  these  institu- 
tions have  the  subdivisions  known  as  Agricultural  and  Mechanic 
Arts,  whether  called  schools  or  colleges  or  divisions,  is  not  vital. 
In  other  institutions  like  Illinois  and  Ohio,  the  universities  have  a 
number  of  colleges  or  schools  where  agriculture  is  given  a  separate 
administration,  as  is  also  Mechanic  Arts,  usually  under  the  title 


of  Engineering.  These  colleges  are  on  the  same  basis  as  colleges 
of  Law,  Medicine  or  other  administrative  devices,  but  are  to  be 
regarded  as  subdivisions  of  the  institutions  whether  known  as 
College  or  University. 

The  Experiment  Stations  were  provided  for  in  the  Hatch 
Act,  by  a  separate  Act  of  Congress,  which  said:  " There  shall 
be  established,  under  direction  of  the  College  or  Colleges  or 
Agricultural  Department  of  Colleges,  *  *  *  *  a  department 
to  be  known  and  designated  as  an  'Agricultural  Experiment 
Station.'  ;  In  section  eight  of  the  Act,  provision  was  made  by 
which  a  state  might  have  an  agricultural  experiment  station 
separate  from  the  agricultural  colleges  and  under  separate  man- 
agement. Some  states  have  taken  advantage  of  this  provision. 
This  situation  has  probably  given  rise  to  the  confusion  over  the 
term  "  institution "  since  evidently  a  separate  station  would  be 
regarded  as  an  institution,  while  a  station  organized  as  a  depart- 
ment of  the  College  of  Agriculture  or  Mechanic  Arts,  might 
not  be  so  construed. 

In  the  development  of  the  proposed  organization  it  might 
be  well,  therefore,  to  recognize  that  fact  that  the  Engineering 
Divisions  are  not  separate  institutions  and  that  it  would  be  well 
to  cling  to  the  legal  term  " Mechanic  Arts"  since  this  term  has 
been  interpreted  by  this  Association  to  include  all  types  of  Engi- 
neering. The  mere  academic  question  as  to  the  relation  between 
Mechanic  Arts  and  Engineering  may  be  left  for  leisurely  dis- 
cussion, but  it  would  seem  well  for  the  Association  to  use  the  legal 
terms  as  provided  in  the  Acts  of  Congress,  leaving  the  interpreta- 
tion of  these  terms  as  a  matter  of  detail. 

It  may  further  be  remarked  that  since  Home  Economics  has 
been  definitely  named  in  the  Smith-Lever  Bill,  certain  persons 
are  disposed  to  regard  that  as  a  warrant  for  a  section  on  Home 
Economics.  It  may  be  suggested,  however,  that  the  object  of 
the  Smith-Lever  Bill  was  to  provide  for  Agricultural  Extension, 
under  which  term  Home  Economics  was  but  one  of  the  specifica- 
tions. It  is  doubtful  therefore,  whether  a  section  on  Home 
Economics  could  be  justified  any  more  than  sections  on  other 
subjects  specifically  named  in  the  second  Morrill  Act. 

In  giving  this  subject  consideration  it  may  be  well  to  cast  a 
look  forward.  There  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  Congress  will 
sooner  or  later  provide  for  Engineering  Experiment  Stations. 


10 


This  Association  has  repeatedly  endorsed  the  proposal.  Some 
institutions  in  the  country  have  already  established  and  organized 
these  stations.  This  is  following  the  precedent  by  which  certain 
Agricultural  Experiment  Stations  were  established  prior  to  the 
Hatch  Act.  When  such  stations  are  provided  for  by  law  we  shall 
know  whether  they  are  to  be  regarded  like  the  Agricultural 
Experiment  Stations  as  subdivisions  of  the  Colleges  of  Agriculture 
and  Mechanic  Arts  or  whether  they  are  to  be  separate  institutions 
under  separate  form  of  government.  In  no  case  could  they  be 
subdivisions  of  a  College  of  Engineering,  since  these  Colleges  are 
not  legal  entities,  but  administrative  subdivisions  of  Colleges  or 
Universities,  although  it  will  be  freely  granted  that  their  manage- 
ment would  be  under  the  direction  of  the  teachers  of  Mechanic 
Arts  or  Engineering  just  as  now  the  Agricultural  Experiment 
Stations  are  chiefly  under  the  direction  of  the  men  engaged  in 
agriculture. 

The  Association  therefore  seems  to  be  confronted  with  one  or 
two  policies;  first,  to  go  back  to  the  original  idea  of  a  Convention 
representing  the  Colleges  organized  under  the  Act  of  1862,  with 
subdivisions  to  be  known  either  as  Committees  or  Sections, 
including  all  of  the  activities  of  these  institutions  or  so  many  of 
them  as  the  Association  may  decide.  Reference  to  this  report 
will  disclose  the  fact  that  the  Association  has  changed  its  mind 
from  time  to  time  on  this  matter.  The  Committees  on  Botany, 
Horticulture,  and  others  have  disappeared.  The  reason  evidently 
was  that  men  engaged  in  scientific  work  preferred  to  have  their 
affiliations  with  scientific  associations  and  could  not  well  take 
the  time  to  attend  both  classes  of  organizations.  It  may  be 
pertinent  to  suggest  that  the  movement  over  the  entire  country 
toward  the  development  of  all  sorts  of  scientific,  administrative 
and  educational  organizations  and  conventions  makes  a  very 
heavy  draft  upon  the  institutions.  Teachers  feel  that  they  cannot 
afford  to  pay  their  own  expenses  to  all  these  conventions  and  the 
institutions  feel  that  they  cannot  afford  to  have  so  many  men 
absent  from  their  ordinary  duties  for  as  much  time  as  is  necessary 
to  meet  the  demand  for  attendance.  Besides,  the  matter  of 
expense  is  not  inconsiderable.  Reference  to  this  report  will  show 
that  experience  demonstrated  that  the  Engineering  men  were  not 
made  delegates  to  this  Association  with  sufficient  frequency 
and  regularity  to  give  a  section  on  Mechanic  Arts  the  dignity 

ii 


and  strength  in  the  Association  to  which  the  work  was  entitled. 
The  Association  is  now  considering  whether  it  shall  increase  the 
number  of  delegates  by  multiplying  the  Sections  or  Committees 
so  as  to  have  practically  two  hundred  or  more  men  from  these 
institutions  assemble  every  year  in  convention. 

Second :  The  other  proposal  is  to  create  sections  on  a  practical 
equality,  each  one  of  which  will  be  recognized  substantially  as  an 
institution,  namely,  the  College,  the  Station,  the  Extension 
Division,  and  the  Mechanic  Arts  or  Engineering  Division.  The 
theory  on  which  this  has  proceeded  is  that  these  subjects  are  of 
large  administrative  importance.  If  we  eliminate  particular 
subjects  and  confine  the  convention  to  administrative  divisions, 
the  Association  would  then  become  a  body  of  administrative 
officers  attended  by  Presidents,  Deans,  Directors,  Superintendents, 
or  by  whatever  other  title  the  administrative  officers  of  these 
institutions  would  be  designated. 

The  logical  result  of  this  second  method  would  be  to  recognize 
the  parity  of  this  subdivision.  The  opinion  is  here  expressed 
that  a  good  many  people  act  upon  the  theory  that  Mechanic 
Arts  is  an  administrative  division  on  a  parity  with  Agriculture 
and  that  both  of  them  somehow  should  be  recognized  as  institu- 
tions. The  fact  is  that  the  law  does  not  recognize  any  such 
division.  The  Smith-Lever  Act  also  recognizes  that  Extension 
Service  is  a  subdivision  of  the  institutions  founded  under  the 
Act  of  1862. 

Reference  to  the  discussions  that  have  taken  place  in  this 
Association  as  reported  in  the  Proceedings  from  year  to  year 
will  disclose  the  fact  that  a  considerable  proportion  of  the  men 
attending  this  convention  for  the  last  twenty  years  has  been 
disposed  to  recognize  the  Stations  as  separate  institutions  and 
thus  to  have  in  their  mind  two  divisions,  namely,  the  College  and 
the  Station.  There  is  some  justification  for  the  belief  that 
this  Association  has  shown  a  tendency  to  regard  itself  as  exclusively 
Agricultural  and  to  ignore  the  division  of  Mechanic  Acts.  The 
success  before  Congress  in  passing  distinctive  Agricultural 
measures  has  given  rise  to  the  belief  that  the  Association's  endorse- 
ment of  engineering  measures,  while  sincere  has  not  carried  with  it 
the  same  sort  of  activity  in  their  support  as  has  characterized 
its  endorsement  of  distinctly  agricultural  proposals.  The  men 
representing  Mechanic  Arts  or  Engineering  believe  that  the 


12 


Federal  aid  should  come  to  this  division  of  the  work  in  due  time. 
They  have  not  been  opposed  or  indifferent  to  the  appropriations 
for  agricultural  purposes,  but  they  believe  sincerely  that  an 
aggressive  movement  should  be  started  looking  toward  Federal 
aid  for  engineering  experiment  stations  and  for  engineering 
extension  work.  This  will  raise  the  question  sooner  or  later 
whether  a  new  section  on  engineering  extension  work  shall  be 
provided  within  this  Association.  The  fact  that  in  some  states 
the  universities  and  colleges  of  agriculture  are  separate  has 
developed  a  situation  as  to  mechanic  arts  and  engineering  that  may 
make  it  impossible  ever  to  secure  Federal  aid  for  mechanic  arts 
or  engineering.  It  certainly  becomes  important  that  this  Associa- 
tion should  face  that  problem  and  face  it  squarely.  This  is 
infinitely  more  important  than  the  technical  question  of  amending 
the  Constitution.  If  the  agricultural  portion  of  the  Association 
is  at  heart  opposed  to  Federal  aid  for  the  mechanic  acts  work 
and  to  the  development  of  money  for  extension  in  mechanic  arts 
parallel  to  the  work  in  the  Smith-Lever  Bill,  that  fact  should  be 
frankly  and  publicly  stated.  The  truth  is  that  some  states  are 
now  spending  considerable  revenue  in  general  university  extension. 
In  the  future  they  probably  will  expend  more.  It  is  worth  while 
to  consider  whether  these  so  called  Land  Grant  Colleges  together 
with  such  of  the  state  universities  as  have  been  developed  around 
the  College  of  Agriculture  and  Mechanic  Arts,  as  in  Ohio,  for 
example,  shall  by  a  close  co-operation  develop  teaching  as  rep- 
resented in  the  College,  research  as  represented  in  the  Experiment 
Stations,  for  both  Agriculture  and  Engineering  and  Extension 
Work  as  represented  by  Agriculture  and  Mechanic  Arts  or  whether 
they  shall  allow  this  general  field  to  be  ignored  or  neglected. 
Possibly  it  may  not  be  neglected,  but  these  institutions  will 
eventually  be  held  responsible  for  the  organization  of  all  these 
scientific  and  educational  activities. 

Attention  may  now  be  directed  to  the  fact  that  every  year  a 
considerable  number  of  Associations  more  or  less  technical  and 
scientific  in  character  meet  at  the  same  time  and  place  as  this 
Association.  Reference  to  the  programme  will  find  several  of 
these  organizations  announced  this  year.  It  is  evident  that 
these  societies  are  composed  chiefly  of  men  associated  with  the 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  Bureau  of  Education 
and  the  group  of  Colleges  represented  in  this  Association.  Whether 

13 


all  these  organizations  ought  to  be  federated  in  a  great  national 
convention  because  they  represent  public  national  interests,  is 
in  the  minds  of  many  a  somewhat  important  question.  This 
would  make  necessary  the  discussion  of  scientific,  technical,  and 
educational  questions  rather  than  administrative  questions  and 
problems  of  public  policy.  While  it  is  perfectly  obvious  that  this 
Association  has  tended  toward  the  administrative  character, 
it  is  equally  obvious  that  Associations  for  the  discussion  of  scientific 
and  educational  questions  have  continued  to  develop.  It  is  also 
true  that  the  programme  of  this  Association  has  shown  a  decided 
preference  for  the  administrative  feature.  Reference  to  the 
Proceedings  for  1914,  page  233  and  234,  will  disclose  some  keen 
criticism  of  the  programme  for  including  what  might  be  termed 
technical  papers.  In  view  of  all  these  tendencies  it  would  seem 
that  the  Association  should  regard  its  future  as  administrative 
and  make  its  organization  accordingly.  Any  other  policy  involves 
a  complete  revolution  and  a  new  organization. 

Conclusion:  In  view  of  the  considerations  reported  above, 
the  Chairman,  speaking  for  the  Executive  Committee  without 
formal  approval,  suggests  that  the  Association  should  not  at  this 
time  undertake  to  amend  the  Constitution  in  a  specific  way.  On 
the  other  hand  the  Committee  believes  that  it  would  be  well  for 
the  Association  to  settle  by  vote  the  general  issue  as  to  the  policy 
the  Association  represents.  In  determining  this  question  the 
opinion  is  expressed  that  the  Association  should  keep  in  mind 
whether  the  future  is  to  involve  the  question  of  Engineering 
Experiment  Stations  and  Engineering  Extension  Service  as  well  as 
Agricultural  Experiment  Stations  and  Agricultural  Extension 
Work.  This  would  make  at  least  five  sections  in  the  Association. 
It  will  be  recalled  that  the  Association  made  provision  for  a 
Committee  on  Agricultural  Extension  Work  before  the  passage  of 
the  Smith-Lever  Act.  Reference  to  the  Proceedings  will  also 
show  that  the  original  idea  of  extension  work  was  rather  limited 
and  meager  in  1905,  but  that  the  idea  steadily  developed  through 
the  several  reports  presented  to  the  Association  and  now  is  a 
matter  of  incomplete  statement.  There  is  no  good  reason, 
therefore,  why  the  Association  should  not  now  make  provision 
for  Engineering  Extension  Service  provided  the  separate  organiza- 
tion of  the  Mechanic  Arts  or  Engineering  Division,  now  known 
as  the  Land  Grant  College  Engineering  Association,  is  not  to  be 

14 


continued,  but  to  be  included  in  the  work  of  this  Association. 
The  purpose  of  this  report  is  to  bring  before  the  Association  a 
brief  account  of  its  own  experiences,  to  intimate  what  its  own 
positions  have  been  and  to  present  the  issue  now  raised  by  the 
proposed  affiliation  or  absorption  of  the  Land  Grant  College 
Engineering  Association.  There  is  no  need  of  further  amendment 
unless  that  organization  is  to  be  included  in  this  Association. 
If  it  is  to  be  included,  then  the  Constitution  should  be  re- written 
on  the  basis  of  the  Act  of  1862  and  provision  made  for  a  Con- 
vention of  these  institutions  that  should  deal  chiefly  with  adminis- 
trative problems.  The  history  of  the  Association  goes  clearly 
to  show  that  discussion  of  scientific  and  technical  questions 
has  been  referred  to  scientific  and  technical  organizations.  The 
Committee  therefore  recommends  that  the  Association  settle  by 
vote  the  one  question  of  policy  and  then  refer  the  matter  of  amend- 
ing or  re-writing  the  Constitution  to  the  Executive  Committee  or 
to  a  special  Committee  appointed  for  that  purpose  as  seems  best. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

W.  0.  THOMPSON, 

Chairman  Executive  Committee. 


; 


Stockton,  Cam. 

. 


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